Compelling story including much history about China

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	• Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China Jung Chang Touchstone, 2003 - 544 pages average customer review:based on 349 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Outstanding!!

Outstanding!! While reading I was transported into another time and place. Jung Chang is a contemporary of mine and as the story moved along I tried to think back to where I was at a particular time and compare my life expierences with hers. No comparison, what hardship's she and her family faced. Brave lady!! I also purchased "Mao" and can't wait for her next book

Enlightening Read

This is a memoir about three generations of women: The author who left China in 1978, her mother who married one of Mao's soldiers, and her grandmother, a concubine to a warlord. Beautifully written with honesty and courage about three amazing women who lived during the tumultuous times of the 20th Century in China. Only criticism is the need for editorial reduction of unnecessary descriptions throughout the book.

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good book, a little hard to follow

I read this book for my book club. I enjoyed the book, it was interesting to read about the lives of these three generations of women in China & how constricted their lives were. I learned a lot about communism in China that I did not know. The time line of the story was sometimes a little hard to follow. If you are not interested in history or politics at all this book is not for you. The character development was lost to the political story. I do wish I knew how the author met her husband & her life was in the US after she left china, I felt that was lacking.

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Compelling story including much history about China

I just finished this book and found it amazing - I was totally engrossed in it while reading it, finding the story and events to be fascinating. I feel like it taught me a tremendous amount about 20th century Chinese history in a form far far superior to a textbook - many of the events are described from first hand experience of them. Others are told as the author heard them from friends and family. Overall, the book is superb.

The gripes some (a small percentage of people) will have are probably the following: 1) the writing style is either too dry or to the point, 2) the book weaves in and out of too many stories and recollections and should have stayed more focussed, and 3) possibly that the book is too "negative", as one reviewer here put it. In response to these possible complaints. 1) I would say that the reader should be prepared for a frank and direct record of events surrounding the author - I actually liked this about the book, as it made it more convincing. 2) On getting sidetracked, I would agree that for a little bit during the last 75 pages of the book or so, there was a lull as the author described events happening around various family members and friends. It could have stayed a bit more focussed and been slightly shorter, but this complaint will probably be voiced mostly by those who can't handle reading a 500 page boook... 3) On being "negative" or grubby, I strongly disagree and believe readers simply need to see how uplifting the book really is. There is nothing negative and there is no winning in the book in my opinion, although there is a strong political message surrounding Mao that develops in the latter half of the book. This message is not a complaint though, and from my view the author is, as I am, struck by Mao and what he was capable of in China during his reign.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, page 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

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